Method of obtaining titanic oxid.



of Obtaining Titanic Oxid, of which I was an LGUIS 3E. BARTON, 0F NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASS IGNOR TO THE TlTJhNIUM ALLOY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF rennin No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis E. BAR'roN, a. citizen or the United States, residing at Niagara Falls, inthe county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods following is a specification.

My present invention relates to the obtaining of titanic oxid concentrates from titaniferous and ferruginous substances, such, for'example, as ilmenite ores, and more particularly to such methods for so doing as are disclosed in Letters Patent granted to Auguste J. Rossi' and myself, Nos. 1,106,409 and 1,106,410, dated August 11, 1914, and No. 1,171,542, dated February 15, 19161 The objects of my present invention com-' prise provision of novel steps in the practice of such, or similar, methods whereby their final products are attainable more readily and economically and of more desirablequality for certain purposes.

Reference to the said Letters Patent will disclose the. methods,*processes, and products therein described and claimed, the which may, for the purposes of this specification, be summarized as follows, viz: The titaniferous-ferruginous substances treated, such, for example, as ordinary titaniferous, or ilmenite, ores, were melted in the presence of sulfid of an alkali metal, either charged as such, or produced by reactions in the charge, during its melting, from therewith-mixed carbonaceous material and sulfate of an alkali metal. The resulting melts containing ferro sodium sulfid and titanate of an alkali metal were cast in molds purposely shallow to accelerate cooling and thus solidified into solid, and quite homogeneous masses. These, so cast, products were then crushed'and preferably after, or without, lixiviation with water, heated in a bath containing sulfuric, or hydrochloric, acid so dilute as to dissolve the the'rein iron, and other, compounds, rather than those of titanium. Since which, as per my invention for which I am filing application for Letters Patent cotemporaneously herewith either sulfurous acid, or chlorin, has at this stage of the processes been, in some cases, substituted for sulfuric or hydrochloric acids in the bath. The insoluble residues being withdrawn from the bath, are washed, dried, and, if desired, calcined, the resulting, usu- Specification of Letters Patent.

the 1 METHOD OF OBTAINING TITANIC OXID.

analysis, as consisting principally of titanic.

oxid, the percentage of which was somewhat increased by calcination, and as containing also some soda and sulfuric anhydrid, and a Patented Dec. 55, 10ft.

Application filed March 7, 1916. Serial No. 82,560.

relatively small quantity of iron oXid; one

of the most notable and distinguishing char-- acteristics of said products being the exceptional ease, rapidity, and completeness with which they are soluble in concentrated sulfuric, or other, acid.

My present lmprovement is based upon my discovery that by properly selecting and ,proportioning the ingredients of the melted charges, and permitting gravity time to act sufficiently therein beforetheir solidification, they will separate into -two different layers, or zones, the uppermost of which will contain the most of the iron'oompounds present and the lowermost the mostof the desired titanium compounds. This being due to their comparative specific gravities in the forms produced by said proper selection, proportioning, and melting thereof together as per the said procedures. This affords opportunity for a very considerable mechanical separation, in advance of the chemical concentration in the bath, and results not only in reducing cost of operation, but also in superior final titanic oxid prod note. The said uppermost layer ofthe melt consisting, for the most part, of ferro'sodiumv sulfid, may be regarded as the matte, and the lowermost layer, consisting principally of said titanium compounds, as the slag, ortitanium concentrate resulting from my method.

My invention is practised as follows: The charge having been molten as aforesaid, I

retain it in molten state sufiiciently to enable gravity to efiect the specified separat10n of the molten constituent. The aforesaid difi'erent groups of materials respecis preferred to pour the entire melt at once,

then, in that case, T take pains to regulate the cooling of the castings, as by molds so much deeper, than wide, as to allow time for I gravity to effect the desired separation in i the molds before solidification. In a... lottanic oxid concentrate.

- ferruginous material be more thoroughly and homogeneously incorporated with each,

In the practice of my improvement I prefor to use niter cake (substantially sodium lei-sulfate) as the sulfate of an alkali metal agent of the melt. Its superiority, for my purpose, over other forms of alkali sulfate,

such as salt cake, or neutral sodium sulfate,

I attribute to its comparatively greater content of sulfur which facilitates formation in the melt of that type of ferro-sodium sulfid which most readily and completely separates from the other constituents. I have also discovered that the desired separation is more perfect if the niter cake and titaniferous other as by heating them together in advance of thefurnacing. To this end, I first; melt the niter cake at about 165 C. in an open iron vessel. To this melt I add the said material, pulverized to about 100 mesh, and then heat the charge at from 17 5 C. to 250 C. until its stiffening indicates nearcompletion of the following reaction, viz:

After this I add the carbonaceous reducing agent and mix it with the charge.

I believe that by. the said preliminary heating the sulfur'is more firmly chemically combined and therefore less thereof lost in the subsequent melting. An additional advantage attributable to the aforesaid preliminary heating is that, during it, the combined water is evolved from the niter cake, instead of while in the furnace.

As regards the proportions of the furnace charge, I have found that the best results are attainable from about the following, viz:

Titaniferous-ferruginous material 100 parts by weight, n'iter cake 200 parts by weight, carbon 40 parts by weight.

For better understanding I append .the following results of an actual operation of my improvement, -viz:

Weight of casting 130.75 lbs. Upper layermatte Lower layer-titanium I concentrate 68. 50 lbs..52. 3%.

e2. 50 lbs. 47. 7%

Specific gravity of matte 2.75; specific gravity of titanium concentrate 3.09.

Analysis.

Matte Titanium concentrate. Titanic oxid 6. 24% 45.43% Iron (Fe) 30. 97 5.81 Sulfur. 34.35 6.29 Sodium (Na) 24.88 22.18

I then treat the same as the melts of the previous processes referred to, i. e. in an acid,or chlorin,contain ing bath, and after the therein reactions, withdraw, wash. dry and, if desired, calcine, the undissolved residues thereby converting them into the desired final titanic oXid products.

' My said preliminary-titanium concentrate Having now described my invention,'what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following, viz:

1. The method of obtaining titanic orid from a substance containing it and ron oxid, which comprises heating said substance in presence of sulfid" of an alkali metal until formation of ferro sodium sulfid and titanate of the alkali metal, and separating the'melt into two parts, the one containing more of the titanium and less of the iron compounds than the other.

2. The method of obtaining titanic oxid from a substance containing it and iron oxid, which comprises heating said substance .in presence of sulfid of an alkali metal'until formation of ferro sodium sulfid and tita-nate of the alkali inetal;f segregating respective constituents of the melt by aid of gravity into two vertically-in-sequence layers, or zones, the lowermost containing more of the titanium and less of the iron compounds than the uppermost; and separating of such layers from the remainder of the melt.

3. The method of obtaining titanic oxid from a substance containing it and iron oXid, which comprises heating said sub: stance in presence of sulfid of an alkali .metal until formation of ferro sodium sulfid and titanate of the alkali metal; pouring the resulting melt into a mold, cooling it at such rate as, by aid of'gravity, to, before solidification, segregate respective constituents of the casting into. two, vertically-insequence, layers, or zones, the lowermost containing more of the titanium and less of the iron compounds than the uppermost, and, after solidification, separating of such layers from the remainder of the casting.

LOUIS E. BARTON. Witnesses:

B. C. POTTER, T. C. GRAHAM. 

